IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) is bellyaching about not being given credit for his wins, and he feels that even if he defeated undefeated WBC champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs), he wouldn’t be given credit for the win by the boxing fans.
Joshua thinks the fans would see Wilder as a flawed fighter and wouldn’t give him the credit for the victory. You hate to see a fighter bellyache like Joshua is doing when he’s not having his back slapped for beating the guys that have dug up for him to fight by his promoter Eddie Hearn.
If Joshua had been fighting quality guys like Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz, Kubrat Pulev and Bryant Jennings, I think he would have been given his credit.
It seems to bother Joshua that the boxing world finds fault with his opponents after he beats them. Part of the problem is that Joshua is making big money despite the fact that he’s fighting mediocre opposition. When fans see Joshua banging out guys like Charles Martin, Dominic Breazeale and Dillian Whyte, of course the fans are going to say something about the wins, because those wins were nothing special.
I don’t know why Joshua wants to be validated for beating the likes of Breazeale, Whyte and Martin. It seems to me that if Joshua wants to be given credit for his wins, then he needs to start fighting better opposition.
“With boxing, people say ‘A.J’s going to beat him, he’s going to knock him out.’ and then when you do it they say, ‘Ah, he’s a bum anyway.’ It’s like, what can I do?” Joshua said to City AM. “In boxing it’s so hard because our comparisons are the likes of Tyson, Ali, and Holyfield. These great, great, beyond iconic, beyond legendary athletes that they compare myself to and ask: ‘Is he going to be that great?’ To get that respect in boxing you have to do something that’s out of this world. If I beat someone like Wilder, they’ll say he’s [expletive].”
Believe me, if Joshua were to beat Deontay, he’d be getting heaps of praise from the boxing world. The news of a Joshua win over the 6’7” Wilder would spread far and wide. It would make Joshua a true life star in the sport. Right now, Joshua is still coasting on his controversial gold medal win in the 2012 Olympics in London.
A lot of boxing fans think Joshua lost three of his four fights in that Olympics. I saw all of the fight, and I had him losing all four of the fights. Anyway, Joshua is still being fawned over by the boxing world based on what he did in winning the Olympics rather than what he’s done at the pro level, because he’s still not beaten anyone halfway decent yet. He’s still yet to step it up.
Joshua will be fighting on November 26 against an opponent still to be determined at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The opponent will be officially named this month on September 26. It’s going to be one of the following three names: Kubrat Pulev, Bermane Stiverne or Joseph Parker. It seems like a no brainer that the guy that Joshua will be fighting is the 6’4” former world title challenger Pulev. That’s the guy. I think he’s a considerable step up for Joshua from the fodder he’s been fighting. At least you can say that Pulev is a decent fighter that will be giving Joshua some problems for as long as the fight lasts. Joshua’s last three opponents have just stood in front of him without throwing punches. It was pretty sad to watch. Pulev will let his hands go and will be looking to get Joshua out of there. It’s too bad Pulev has no punching power, because it would be an interesting fight if he could punch.
Joshua will be facing Joseph Parker in early 2017. That’s where it’s going to get ready interesting. Joshua doesn’t have to worry about him not getting any credit if he beats Parker, because he definitely will. I just hope Joshua is realistic about it and doesn’t expect the fans to go overboard in giving him credit. I mean, come on. Parker is a good fighter, but he’s not Deontay or Luis Ortiz.